Conventional telephone systems identify an actual telephone station based on the telephone number assigned to the extension to which the telephone station is connected. Accordingly, a caller communicates with the intended recipient by calling the desired extension number. When the intended recipient is not physically present in the vicinity of the called extension, the call may be answered by a voice mail, rolled over to another party, or forwarded. In the case of forwarding, this may be to several extensions, ultimately ending in a voice mail, a roll over to an unintended recipient, or simply not answered at all. Regardless of these answering procedures, the caller is not served instantly.
Existing locating systems are based on infrared sensors installed on a dedicated infrastructure that require special installations and cable routing. Other locating systems are based on radio sensors. When such a system locates the intended recipient, the telephone closest to that person automatically rings, However, the system does not allow the intended recipient to have control over the call, e.g. to select the telephone set from which to answer the call, to select not to be disturbed by the call or to deny the call.